Sheet tissue paper dispenser



April 26, 1966 A. LOWERY ETAL SHEET TISSUE PAPER DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 22, 1964 INVENTOR.

w ye w M y aw R WW5 W A Mw A ril 26, 1966 A. LOWERY ETAL SHEET TISSUE PAPER DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1964 I NV EN TORS y a M ML T w mm mm AW Y B United States Patent 3,248,006 SHEET TISSUE PAPER DISPENSER Andrew Lowery, 4806 Revere Road, Durham, N.C., and William T. Lowery, 15-501 Bypass, Chapel Hill, N .C. Filed Apr. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 361,677 1 Claim. (Cl. 221-36) This invention relates to sheet tissue paper dispensers More particularly, the invention relates to a sheet tissue paper dispenser for dispensing individual sheet tissues such as hair end wraps used in beauty parlors and the like.

In removing sheet tissues from their container difficulty is often encountered in that a single tissue is difli cult to remove from the container without picking up extra tissues at the same time. The removal of a single tissue from its container is Often facilitated by wetting a finger and using that wet finger to remove the tissue from its container. The finger wetting process is unsightly to the patron and allows the tissue to absorb moisture.

Certain occupations requiring use of individual sheets of tissue paper, such as beauty shops for curl end-wraps and laboratories for various filter and test papers, need a sheet tissue paper dispensing system that affords easy and quick dispensing of the tissues and which leaves the tissues dry.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sheet tissue paper container and dispensing unit for beauty parlor end wraps and the like, whereby a stack .of in-' dividual sheet tissues can be placed in the unit and be singly dispensed.

It is a further object to provide a sheet tissue dispensing device for beauty parlor end wraps and the like which will 1 act to lift the top sheet from a stack of sheets and hold the same for removal.

It is another object to provide a combined sheet tissue container and dispensing device which can be employed without having to be secured in position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pickup unit and a tissue shipping carton which can be manufactured and used as an integral These and other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds. In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top perspective view of a tissue paper container and dispenser which incorporates the invention.

FIGURE 2. is a top perspective view similar to FIG- URE 1 but showing the container with a stack of tissues and the pickup head in a pickup position.

FIGURE 3 is a top perspective view similar to FIG- URES 1 and 2 and showing a single sheet of paper being pulled up by the pickup head.

, FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of the tissue paper container and dispenser previously shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a partial perspective view of a gravity operated counter balanced pickup head, an alternative embodiment.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective exploded view of a combined tissue paper shipping carton, operating container and dispenser which incorporates the invention in a further alternative embodiment.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional elevation view taken along line 7-7 of FIGURE 6.

Referring to the novel elements of the invention as embodied in FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 4, the numeral 10 generally represents a tissue paper container and dispenser which is comprised of a tissue holder 11 and a tissue pickup unit 9. The pickup unit 9 is comprised of a flexible shaft formed by a coil spring 13 and a pickup head 12 to which is applied a non-drying, pressure sensitive tacky adhesive 14. Holder 11 is preferably molded in the shape shown of a thermoplastic material such as polystyrene. During manufacture, one end of the coil spring Patented Apr. 26, 19.66

' 13 is pressed into the fold 7 of the shelf portion 8 of holder 11 while the material is heated and is in a flowable state. Some of the material will flow into the coils of spring 13 and when cooled to room temperature, the spring will be found to be firmly secured to the holder 11. Other means for securing spring 13 to holder 11 may of course be employed but in any case it is desirable to orient the axis of the flexible member along the diagonal of the holder. It should also be noted that the flexible member can be in the form of a cantilevered rubber bar, flat leaf spring or the like.

It will be noticed in FIGURES 1 through 4 that one corner of holder 11 is left open and that spring 13 is secured to the top of the opposite diagonal corner. This arrangement allows a relatively long flexible member to beernployed. When a finger is pushed down on the pickup head 12 there is almost no horizontal thrust asserted. Therefore, since the device does not tend to shift it does not have to be secured or otherwise fixed when in use. The open corner also has the advantage of giving the operator substantial freedom to push the pickup head down without interference when the stack is at relatively low level and furthermore facilitates removal of the sheets at all levels of the stack.

With regard to the pickup head 12, a suitable head is a molded rubber head which can be slipped on. and off the end of coil spring 13 very much like a replaceable rubber pencil eraser. It thus becomes an easy matter to clean or replace the pickup head when desired. For an adhesive, any pressure sensitive, non-drying tacky adhesive will operate. For example, a small piece of Scotch tape wrapped around the pickup head 12 Will serve. As an alternative, any of the commercially available pressure sensitive, non-drying adhesive such as those conventionally employed to hold sanding discs will serve the same purpose.

In FIGURES 2 and 3 stacked sheets of paper are represented by the numeral 15, with the top sheet being designated 15'. To pick up a single tissue paper 1'5 the pickup head 12 is pressed downward until the adhesive 14 makes contact with the paper 15'. The pickup head 12 is then released and allowed to return to its up position. As shown in FIGURE 3, the paper 15 is lifted singularly and separately from the other paper 15 and can easily be removed from the pickup head 12 with dry fingers.

Other pickup arrangements may be employed with the holder 11. For example, referring to FIGURE 5, counter balance pickup device 19, holds the previously mentioned pickup head 12 and adhesive 14 on a shaft 16 which is pivoted on a fixed pivot pin '17 and which mounts a counter weight 18. Shaft 16 is mounted along the diagonal of holder 11 as was described in regard to coil 13. However, shaft 16 is not fixed but rather is arranged to pivot freely on pin 17 which is sealed to the material of holder 11. Operation of this device is as previously described, except the pickup head 12 is returned to the up position by the shaft 16 pivoting about the pivot 17 due to force of the counter weight 18.

Referring to FIGURES 6 and 7 the numeral 20 represents an integrated paper shipping and dispensing carton which includes a principal carton body 21 and a perforated tear aw-ay access flap 22. Secured to body 21 by means of rivets 24, 25 is a pickup unit 30 comprised of a flexible leaf spring member 23, a pickup head 26 arid a non-drying tacky adhesive 27. Pickup unit 30 could of course be constructed as a separate unit for attachment on .a variety of paper holders.

The integrated unit is constructed as shown in FIG- URES 6 and 7 and packed with papers or tissues, not shown. To use, the tear away fl-ap 22 is removed so as to open up one corner and thereby allow access to While specific details of construction have been re ferred to in describing the illustrated forms of the invention, it will be understood that other details of construction may be resorted to be within the spirit of the inven-,

tion. The word tissue as used in the claim is intended to mean relatively thin uniform size sheets of paper and is not limited to any particular shape except where so specified.

We claim:

A dispenser unit for holding and dispensing individual tissues from the top of a stack of tissues comprising, in combination, a rectangular molded thermoplastic container including side and bottom Walls, said side walls being connected at three corners and providing one open corner adapted to receive one corner of said stack, an elongated coil spring member having one end thermoplastical- 1y secured to the top corner of said container opposite said open corner and extending diagonally across said cont-ainer generally in the plane of the top thereof and including a free removable end piece supported above said stack proximate said open corner, a substantially nondrying pressure sensitive adhesive material secured to said free end piece, said free end piece being thereby 'made retractable and adapted when pressed to adhere to the top tissue of said stack and when released to lift .and hold said top tissue.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 317,23'4 5/1885 Spitzli 22140 1,291,231 1/1919 Stokkan 2212l0 1,549,456 8/1925 Bartlett 2212l0 2,101,579 12/1937 Hamel. 221-63 3,012,692 12/1961 Petersen 22163' 1 3,028,049 4/1962 Eppy 22,1-265 3,094,323' 6/ 1963 Catania 22l-37 3,161,336 12/1964 Loescher 221--63 I FOREIGN PATENTS 7,201 4/ 1896 Great Britain.

LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Examiner. 

